Church (61)
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The way to preserve the peace of the church is to preserve its purity.
The great concern of the New Testament is not about the size of the Church, it is about the purity of the Church.
We encourage our members to leave us to found other Churches; nay, we seek to persuade them to do it. We ask them to scatter through—out the land to become the goodly seed, which God shall bless. I believe that so long as we do this we shall prosper.
According to the New Testament concept of eldership, elders lead the church, teach and preach the Word, protect the church from false teachers, exhort and admonish the saints in sound doctrine, visit the sick and pray, and judge doctrinal issues.Biblical Eldership (16)
Elder Led: a strong emphasis on the responsibilities and duties of the congregation is maintained. While the team of elders has its specific responsibilities, the members of the church have their specific responsibilities as well, and these are fairly substantial; indeed, all major decisions (e.g., electing church officers, hiring pastoral staff, budget, property purchases and sales, church disciplinary matters) are brought by the elders to the members of the church for approval, modification, or dissaproval. The leadership of the elders in their sphere of authority interfaces with congregational responsibilities; accordingly, this model could best be termed 'elder-led congregationalism.'Sojourners and Strangers, 294
The church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints. Unknown
No longer are the people of Israel to be thought of exclusively as constituting the chosen race--the Jewish-Gentile Church is now God's chosen race. The Bible and the Future
All, therefore, were glorified and magnified, not through themselves or their own works or the righteous actions which they did, but through his will. And so we, having been called through his will in Christ Jesus, are not justified through ourselves or through our wisdom or understanding or piety or works, which we have done in holiness of heart, but through faith, by which the almighty God has justified all who have existed from the beginning, to whom be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.1 Clement 32:3-4
Fearing the bondage of these lusts and the possibility of losing favor with God if he gave in to them, Alfred began the habit of going to churches very early in the morning to beg God that he might send him some sort of physical affliction that would be severe enough to curb his sinful lusts, but no so severe that it would render Alfred useless in his duties. God seemingly answered Alfred's prayers by afflicting the prince with the extremely unpleasant disease of piles.The White Horse King, 34
the decline of church discipline is perhaps the most visible failure of the contemporary church. No longer concerned with maintaining purity of confession or lifestyle, the contemporary church sees itself as a voluntary association of autonomous members, with minimal moral accountability to God, much less to each other.
We, then, must also view apostolic, Christianized elders to be primarily pastors of a flock, not corporate executives, CEOs, or advisers to the pastor.Biblical Eldership (17)
In the New Testament the words "elder," "shepherd" or "pastor," and "bishop" or "overseer" are used interchangeably in the context of the local church office.The Church: The Gospel Made Visible (Kindle Locations 1386-1387). B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
The healing of the Church's breaches should be the desire of every Christian.
Admonition is a lion which few dare come near, for fear it will tear them in pieces.
The church is live a river. If it gets wider instead of deeper it will lose its power.
we cannot expect the earliest Christians to have the same clarity on the issue of sola fide as the Reformers. The emphasis we find among them on topics like good works and merit lacks the clarity of the later discussions, but a sympathetic reading doesn't posit a contradiction between them and the Reformers. True faith results in good works, and the term "merit" in the early fathers may designate the reward given instead of being interpreted to say that one earns salvation.Sola Fide, 23
Protestants who ignore or despise the contributions of the earliest era of the church show their folly and arrogance, for we stand in debt to the church throughout the ages.Faith Alone, 21
O the sweet exchange, O the incomprehensible work of God, O the unexpected blessings, that the sinfulness of many should be hidden in one righteous man, while the righteousness of one should justify many sinners.Epistle to Diognetus, 9.5
The house of the godly is a little church; just as the house of the wicked is a little hell.
what occurs so often in Christian organizations is the opposite. Instead of drawing unbelievers by how we conduct our affairs, including how God supplies abundantly for our needs, so many organizations import methods from the world, and rely upon government money grants. This is a subtly dangerous relationship from which it may be almost impossible for an institution to extricate itself - the proverbial fly caught in the spiderweb.Deep Discipleship, 132-133
It's hard to convince people that the loving God they can't see sacrificed His Son for sinners & calls them too repentance to escape the wrath to come, when a church they can see celebrates & indulges the very sins that sent His Son to the cross.
How well you can see the folly of misunderstanding between Christians in Mr. Jay's story of two men who were walking from opposite directions on a foggy night! Each saw what he thought was a terrible monster moving towards him, and making his heart beat with terror; as they came nearer to each other, they found that the dreadful monsters were brothers. So, men of different denominations are often afraid of one another; but when they get close to each other, and know each other's hearts, they find out that they are brethren after all.Lectures to my Students
Christian fellowship, then, is self-sacrificing conformity to the gospel. There may be overtones of warmth and intimacy, but the heart of the matter is this shared vision of what is of transcendent importance, a vision that calls forth our commitment.Basics for Believers
In short, doctrinally, Puritanism was a kind of vigorous Calvinism; experientially, it was warm and contagious; evangelistically, it was aggressive, yet tender; ecclesiastically, it was theocentric and worshipful; and politically, it aimed to be scriptural and balanced.
Congregations are lifeless because dead men preach to them.
The church is not a theological classroom. It is a conversion, confession, repentance, reconciliation, forgiveness and sanctification center, where flawed people place their faith in Christ, gather to know and love him better, and learn to love others as he designed.
When the church is absolutely different from the world, she invariably attracts it. It is then that the world is made to listen to her message, though it may hate it at first.
That very church which the world likes best is sure to be that which God abhors.
The church is the fruit of the gospel.
People in awe never complain that church is boring.
A world, and a church, which is hooked on novelty like some cultural equivalent of crack cocaine needs the cold, cynical eye of the historian to stand as a prophetic witness against it.
If the church as a whole is losing its ability to be "salt and light" in the culture, it is not because its members have no opinion of the films of Bernardo Bertolucci, no appreciation for the poetry of Emily Dickinson, and no regular slot on The Charlie Rose Show. More likely, it is because they do not have a solid grasp of the basic elements of the faith, as taught in Scripture and affirmed by the confessions and catechisms of the church.
One hundred religious persons knit into a unity by careful organization do not constitute a church any more than eleven dead men make a football team.
Christians do not stand isolated, each holding his own creed. They constitute one body, having one common creed. Rejecting that creed, or any of its parts, is the rejection of the fellowship of Christians, incompatible with the communion of saints, or membership in the body of Christ. In other words, Protestants admit that there is a common faith of the Church, which no man is at liberty to reject, and which no man can reject and be a Christian.
When will we realize that one of the greatest mission fields in the West is the pews of our churches every Sunday morning?
Where the Spirit is, there is the church; outside the body of the saints there is no salvation.
It had been nearly a full century since the Viking plague had begun with the first tragic raid on the holy island of Lindisfarne. After that disaster, Alcuin had written to the British church urging them to consider this raid as a scourge from God, sent to awaken the Anglo-Saxons from spiritual lethargy. Now, nearly one hundred years later, the king of Wessex finally took this warning to heart and set about reviving Christian learning and worship throughout his land.The Life of Alfred the Great, 181
It is common for those that are farthest from God, to boast themselves most of their being near to the Church.
I believe that one reason why the church of God at this present moment has so little influence over the world is because the world has so much influence over the church.
Her position in the state is not assigned her by the permission of the government, but Jure divino. She has her own organization. She possesses her own office-bearers... the sovereignty of the state and the sovereignty of the church exist side by side, and they mutually limit each other.
it is the church's duty to instruct parents how God would have them rear their children, and enforce the duty by spiritual sanctions; but there its official power ends. It does not usurp the doing of the important task it instructs the parents to do.Secularized Education
Instead of consuming their leisure hours in vacant idleness, or deriving their chief amusement from boisterous merriment, the recital of tales of superstition, or the chanting of the profane songs of the heathen, they passed their hours of repose in rational and enlivening pursuits; found pleasure in enlarging their religious knowledge, and entertainment in songs that were dedicated to the praise of God.The Antiquities of the Christian Church
teaching, leading, praying, and shepherding are the responsibilities of the elders of the Church.Sojourners and Strangers, 243
when the overall spiritual tenor of the church is increased, more men will be raised up to be above reproach and, as they express the desire, will be qualified for the office of elder. Perfection in each of these areas is not possible, but men who exhibit these characteristics in high and increasing measure should be the leaders who fill the office of elder.Sojourners and Strangers, 218
The insistence among some that only the ordained may administer baptism and conduct the Lord's Supper demonstrates the persistence of the sacramental view of ordination.
It is an immensely profound truth that no special priestly or clerical class in distinction from the whole people of God appears in the New Testament.Eldership, 112
Better have no elders than the wrong ones.Searching Together
the following are specific areas addressed in Scripture that require Church discipline: personal sin committed by one member against another member of the church; egregious/public moral failure; heretical teaching; divisiveness; idleness; confirmed sin among the church's leaders.Sojourners and Strangers, 199
It has been remarked, that when discipline leaves a church, Christ goes with itA Treatise on Church Order
church discipline is a proleptic (or anticipatory) and declarative sign of the divine eschatological judgement, meted out by Jesus Christ through the church against its sinful members and sinful situations.Sojourners and Strangers, 184
An ecclesiology of total withdrawal cannot be sustained by 1-2 Kings. Elijah and Elisha do not entertain the comforting illusion that they can carry on happily as the true Israel while the Omrides take the nation further into the cesspool of idolatry.1 & 2 Kings, 148
Ernest Howse, the church's moderator 1964-66, was surprised at the public controversy that followed his announcement, during an Easter interview, that he did not believe in the physical resurrection of Jesus. He considered his statement to be "about as radical as an affirmation that the world is round," and shrugged off the vituperative criticism.The United Church of Canada, 107
After decades of anti-Roman Catholic pamphleteering, the United Church at the 1964 General Council was able to send magnanimous "Christian greetings to the third session of the Vatican Council," and United Church clergy began participating in the celebration of "mixed" marriages with Roman Catholic priests.The United Church of Canada, 104
Hord and those with whom he worked were not the church's ultimate decision-makers, and not necessarily representative of the church's average pew-sitters. Yet ordinary church members helped put them there; they financially supported their work, and purchased their publications. As one observer puts it, "A large percentage of the church didn't agree with these positions, but they did consent to them." These leaders, then, embodied something of the face of the collective United Church wished to show the world in the 1960s: Christians who sought cultural relevance and were eager to participate in progressive change.The United Church of Canada, 101
in 1966, for the first time in its history, The United Church of Canada saw a 2,000-member drop in its membership (to 1,062,000), the start of a decline from which it has never recovered.The United Church of Canada, 98
Four doctrinal omissions drew criticism from some prominent Presbyterians, fearful the new church would lose its way. First, the creed dropped the all-important statement affirming the Holy Scriptures "as the Word of God, the only infallible rule of faith and life."The United Church of Canada, 18-19
The final responsibility of the congregation does not contradict or undermine the elders' general leadership, but it provides an opportunity to confirm it when it is right and to constrain it when it is in error. This position is called elder led...The Church: The Gospel Made Visible (Kindle Locations 1474-1476). B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
The church is distinguished and contained by the right administration of baptism and the Lord's Supper. It should also be noted that this latter mark presumes and implies the practice of church discipline.The Church: The Gospel Made Visible (Kindle Locations 745-746). B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
While every true local church is part of this universal church and is an entire church itself, no local church can be said to constitute the entire universal church. Therefore, Christians must exercise care in their assumptions about the correctness of doctrines or practices that may, in fact, be peculiar to their own time or place.The Church: The Gospel Made Visible (Kindle Locations 682-684). B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
If the church is central to God's purpose, as seen in both history and the gospel, it must surely also be central to our lives. How can we take lightly what God takes so seriously? How dare we push to the circumference what God has placed at the centre?The Message of the Ephesians (129)
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